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06-14-2008, 06:03 PM   #1
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Trouble with Exposure Time

Good evening,

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what I've read in guides and such. I was basically reading up on doing night shooting and setting slow shutter speeds or an increased exposure time to create different effects with lights and moving objects. I've also seen it used to give cool appearances to fast moving clouds.

Basically, when I tried to do this myself, it didn't work out so great. I must not fully understand the settings of the camera. I was trying to get a nice effect of the clouds with the sunset tonight.

I turned the ISO down and used the Manual (M) mode so that I could set a slow shutter speed. Whenever I slowed it down to any setting I wanted to use, it would flash that it was overexposed. If I changed the fstop it didn't have any effect on this.

Then I read that you can use bulb mode (B) to keep the shutter open. But what if I want to set a really long exposure and don't want to stand there holding it down? It mentioned a timer setting (T) but my camera doesn't have that, at least that I can see.

What am I doing wrong, or why isn't it working.

The camera I am using is the K100D Super

Thanks

06-14-2008, 06:18 PM   #2
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With manual mode, YOU make the decisions. The camera will not know what you are trying do. It may complain but ignore that. The camera is almost always saying my exposure is way to hgh or too low on manual. Of course, if I wanted computer "perfect" exposure, I would not be using manual mode, would I?

You can set the shutter speed upto 30 seconds n manual mode. If you want more than that, you will need to hold the btton down. With the wired remote, the switch will lock so you can let go and come back later.

In the end, it does not sound like you are doing anything wrong.
06-14-2008, 06:22 PM   #3
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When you adjust the shutter to a longer time, ther comes a point where the diaphragm can't close anymore, so, if you keep on going, you will get over- exposed pictures. You have to use N.D. (neutral density) filters to reduce the amount of light that reaches the sensor. You can also use a polarising filter to cut some light. Two polarising filters installed in tandem can also give very interesting results as the opacity will vary greatly depending on how they are set against each other and against the light. Tricky, but interesting. Good luck!
06-14-2008, 06:32 PM   #4
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How long do you want your exposures for?
Sunsets at ISO 100 shouldn't need shutter speeds of longer than a few seconds at the smallest apertures.
So you probably don't need the Bulb mode in this situation.
But as mentioned, if you know what settings you need to get the exposure you want, just set it and shoot it - disregard what the meter's telling you.

06-14-2008, 09:00 PM   #5
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Thank you for the responses. I was trying to set a slower shutter speed because the clouds were moving pretty quick and changing colours from the sunlight, and I wanted an effect of them being blurred a bit. It did let me take the shot, but came out extremely bright from the overexposure.
06-14-2008, 11:32 PM   #6
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You can check the exposure even if you are using the M mode. There is a number on the right of the aperture if you look through the viewfinder. The range of that no is from 3.0 to -3.0, if the no is positive it means your setting will over expose the shot, negative will under expose the shot. If the no is blinking it is over 3 stops under/over exposed. That no should be 0 if you want a balanced exposure.

You can try using Tv instead. Control the shutter lag and let the camera decide the aperture.
06-16-2008, 11:30 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by jcleary47 Quote
Thank you for the responses. I was trying to set a slower shutter speed because the clouds were moving pretty quick and changing colours from the sunlight, and I wanted an effect of them being blurred a bit. It did let me take the shot, but came out extremely bright from the overexposure.
It's likely that it was still to bright for the long exposure you were trying. If you have the aperture at a small setting (big number) and your iso down to 100, and your still overexposing at the shutter speeds you shooting at you can look at getting a neutral density filter - it's like sunglasses for your camera - allows less light to pass through in effect making it darker.

06-17-2008, 04:24 AM   #8
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Just remember that 1)shutter speed 2)aperture and 3)ISO are all linked to each other. For a proper exposure (under any circumstances) any adjustment to one requires an offsetting adjustment to one of the other two. I get the impression that you were perhaps only manipulating the shutter speed without taking into account the necessity to close down your aperture more or use a slower ISO.
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